Crisis, what crisis?
After a winless three-game start to the season, Liverpool responded in style against Bournemouth at Anfield by equalling the record for the biggest win in Premier League history.
It saw them join Manchester United, Leicester City and Tottenham as the only clubs to have scored nine in a match in the competition.
The win also marked the first time Liverpool had hit the nine-goal tally since a 9-0 victory against Crystal Palace in December 1989 in the old First Division.
Here, we look back at times when one-sided encounters in England's top flight have spun wildly out of control.
Liverpool 9-0 Bournemouth - August 27, 2022
Roberto Firmino was star of the show as a thrilling performance saw the Brazilian secure a hat-trick of assists in the first half, setting up Luis Diaz, Harvey Elliott and Trent Alexander-Arnold before adding his own name to the scoresheet. Virgil van Dijk made it 5-0 before the break and the woes for Cherries boss Scott Parker continued, Chris Mepham putting the ball into his own net just a minute into the second half. Firmino got a second after the hour mark and the hosts did not rest on their laurels, Fabio Carvalho and Diaz on the scoresheet in the final 10 minutes.
Manchester United 9-0 Southampton - February 2, 2021
After Alexandre Jankewitz was dismissed for a shocking studs-up lunge on Scott McTominay, Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl perhaps should have checked the date and feared the worst. February 2 is Groundhog Day and Southampton had been here before. Aaron Wan-Bissaka got United off and running in the 18th minute, with Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani more familiar sights on the scoresheet either side of a Jan Bednarek own goal. Anthony Martial came on at half-time, but even after he scored in the 69th minute and McTominay did shortly afterwards, the game could have meandered towards a conclusion. Instead, the roof fell in on Southampton as they crumpled entirely under late strikes from Martial and Dan James after a Bruno Fernandes penalty and a red card for Bednarek.
Southampton 0-9 Leicester City – October 25, 2019
Ryan Bertrand – one of seven Southampton players to feature in both 9-0s – was the Jankewitz of the piece as he was sent off for a challenge in the build-up to Ben Chilwell's 10th-minute opener. Youri Tielemans was granted ample room to double the lead, then Ayoze Perez began romping towards a hat-trick that he completed a minute before Jamie Vardy's headed second made it 7-0 in the 58th minute. A James Maddison free-kick and a Vardy penalty took this defeat into uncharted territory for a home side in the Premier League.
Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town – March 4, 1995
For nearly a quarter of a century, Alex Ferguson's United were out there on their own. Andy Cole scored five after Roy Keane began this rout in the 15th minute. Mark Hughes hit a quickfire second-half double and Paul Ince also got in on the act. Peter Schmeichel watched it all unfold from the other end, just as his son Kasper did in goal for Leicester at St Mary's all those years later.
Tottenham 9-1 Wigan Athletic – November 22, 2009
Wigan had a slither of hope when Paul Scharner pulled a goal back to make it 3-1 before the hour at White Hart Lane. Ultimately, the only significance of that strike was to keep them off the top of this list. Jermain Defoe did his best Cole impression, rattling in five goals from the 51st minute onwards, while Aaron Lennon, David Bentley and Nico Kranjcar piled on the pain. Remarkably, Peter Crouch's ninth-minute header was the only goal of the 10 scored before half-time.
That same season, Wigan lost 8-0 at Chelsea, who beat Aston Villa by the same margin at Stamford Bridge two and a half years later. Newcastle United claimed the Premier League's first 8-0 win at the expense of Sheffield Wednesday in 1999, with Alan Shearer scoring five.
Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham: Huijsen downs sorry Spurs
Bournemouth moved into the top half of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Tottenham at the Vitality Stadium.
Dean Huijsen scored the decisive goal in the 17th minute when the Spurs defence allowed the 19-year-old defender to head in unmarked from a Marcus Tavernier corner.
The hosts had the chance to put the game to bed in the second half as Ryan Christie was denied by the woodwork and an Evanilson goal was disallowed for offside following a VAR review.
Tottenham were unable to make meaningful inroads throughout the first half and despite their performance picking up after the break, the visitors failed to find a way back and fell to their sixth league defeat of the season.
Bournemouth leapfrogged their opponents into ninth place on 21 points, while Tottenham dropped to 10th, one point behind the Cherries.
Data Debrief: Home comforts for Bournemouth
Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth have now won four of their last five games at their home ground. What makes their home form even more impressive is the fact that they have beaten Arsenal 2-0 and champions Manchester City 2-1 during that run.
On Thursday, the Cherries attempted 21 shots, which was their highest total in a league match this season.
They only scored one, but it proved decisive. Huijsen became Bournemouth’s youngest-ever goalscorer in the Premier League at 19 years and 235 days and the third-youngest Spaniard, after Cesc Fabregas and Stefan Bajcetic.
Meanwhile, Spurs have now lost seven of their last 11 away games in the league (W3 D1), as Ange Postecoglou's team, who had a goal disallowed for offside in the second half, failed to show anywhere close to their best form.
Nuno expects tough test versus Amorim's Man Utd
While Nuno Espirito Santo remains uncertain how Ruben Amorim will set Manchester United up on Saturday, he expects Nottingham Forest to face a tough test at Old Trafford.
Forest were beaten 3-0 by Premier League champions Manchester City on Wednesday, their third defeat in their last four games.
However, they remain within touching distance of the top five ahead of a second successive away game in Manchester, where they will face Ruben Amorim's United.
United suffered their first defeat under the former Sporting CP coach on Wednesday, going down 2-0 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
With Amorim still getting to grips with his new squad, Nuno does not know what tactical challenges to expect but is certain United will present a major challenge.
The former Wolves boss said: "Their results are difficult to predict because Ruben in this moment is changing a lot.
"I think he is trying to get to know players better. The idea is there, we don't know exactly who is going to play, but for sure they have quality players.
"They are quality and have talented players. The shape is there. The personnel and the players... we cannot identify who is going to start, but our approach is always the same.
"Let's focus on the things they have been doing but also let's look at getting the advantage. It is always a tough place to go but let's focus on being positive on the game."
United conceded two goals from corners in their midweek defeat to the Gunners, prompting defender Matthijs de Ligt to demand improvements.
"In the end, we are Manchester United," De Ligt told MUTV. "We lost again and, yeah, it's easy, it's not good enough.
"So, we know that, we will work hard. We have to improve, and in two days or three days is the next game, so that will be a really important one again for us, to show again what we learned from this game and get the three points."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Manchester United – Bruno Fernandes
Fernandes has been involved in 11 goals in his last 10 appearances at Old Trafford (four goals, seven assists), having a hand in six goals in his last four in the Premier League (two goals, four assists).
He's never scored or assisted in five in a row in the league at Old Trafford, while Marcus Rashford was the last United player to do so overall (seven in 2022-23).
Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood
Wood has scored 12 goals in his last 14 away Premier League starts for Nottingham Forest, netting in three in a row before Wednesday's defeat at the Etihad.
He missed a glorious chance while Forest were a goal down last time out and will be determined to atone here.
MATCH PREDICTION – MANCHESTER UNITED WIN
Man United have won six of their seven Premier League home games against Forest, with the exception being a 2-1 loss in December 1994.
They have also scored in all 14 of their Premier League games against Forest, their joint-best 100% scoring record against an opponent in the competition along with Swansea City.
The Red Devils have won 3-0 against Leicester City and 4-0 against Everton in their last two Premier League home games.
They have not scored three or more goals in three consecutive home league games since February 2021, while they last did so while winning each time in December 2018.
With United also beating Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League, Amorim has won both of his home games in charge of the side so far – only five managers have won their first three at home with the Red Devils, most recently Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2018-19.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Manchester United – 55.9%
Nottingham Forest – 21.4%
Draw – 22.7%
Emery feels confidence returning at Villa ahead of Saints clash
Unai Emery believes his Aston Villa side have restored confidence after returning to winning ways in the Premier League against Brentford in midweek.
Ahead of their triumph over the Bees on Wednesday, Villa were winless in eight games in all competitions before first-half goals from Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash sealed an impressive victory.
The win saw Villa move up to seventh in the table and four points adrift of the top four, and Emery believes his team’s latest result has given them a solid foundation to build on heading into the busy festive period, as they prepare to face Southampton on Saturday.
“We broke a spell of bad results we were having,” the Villa boss said “We started the first five or 10 minutes not in control of the game but then progressively we controlled.
“Today we achieved those three points, and it has given us confidence again, but even like that it’s not enough. We have to keep going and think about the next match against Southampton on Saturday.
“The message was to try to focus on each match, try to forget the table. How we can recover confidence and feel comfortable at home. Wednesday was a fantastic match.”
But at the other end of the table, Southampton were dealt their 11th defeat of the season, losing 5-1 to Enzo Maresca’s in-form Chelsea side on Wednesday.
Saints entered the game without the likes of Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Tyler Dibling and Flynn Downes due to suspension, with Jack Stephens not helping their cause by being shown his second red card of the season after pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair at 3-1 down.
Despite the result, head coach Russell Martin was proud of his team, and firmly believes that the return of suspended players will make the difference this Saturday.
“I’m obviously very disappointed and hurt at the result,” Martin reflected. “But I’m really proud of the players and really grateful to them for the way they played in the first half-hour – an incredible number of opportunities in their box and the incredible courage to take the ball.
“We have to put into perspective we’re playing against one of the best teams in the country at the moment with some real attacking talent, but then, of course, we go down to 10 men for over an hour. Against a team like that, it’s difficult.
“As long as they keep giving us that, they are giving everything in some big moments, and then we have five big players ready to come back very soon who were sitting behind us and couldn’t play but have been important for us.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins
Watkins has been involved in 10 goals in his last five Premier League appearances against promoted clubs, scoring four and assisting six.
He has also netted five goals in his last six home Premier League appearances and has 36 goals overall at Villa Park – the only Villans player with more home goals than him is Dwight Yorke (37).
Southampton – Adam Armstrong
Armstrong has two goals in his last three appearances on home soil, but his struggles in front of goal have come away from St Mary’s in the top-flight.
He scored in his first ever away Premier League appearance for Southampton in August 2021 against Everton, but has since gone 32 away games without scoring, having 51 shots with an expected goals (xG) total of 4.7 without finding the net across those matches.
MATCH PREDICTION: ASTON VILLA WIN
Villa have won their last three Premier League games against Southampton (all without conceding), more than they had in their previous 13 against them (W2 D3 L8).
They are also unbeaten in their last six home Premier League matches (W3 D3) and have scored 85 goals in 39 home games under Emery, the fourth-most home goals since Emery’s first game in charge at Villa Park in November 2022.
The Villans have won five of their last eight Premier League matches against sides starting the day bottom of the league (D2 L1), though their one defeat in this run was at Villa Park, losing 1-0 to West Ham in August 2022.
Having been unbeaten in six consecutive away league games against Villa between 2013 and 2020, Southampton have lost their last two visits by an aggregate score of 5-0.
Southampton are also winless in their last 14 Premier League away games (D3 L11), since a 1-0 win at Chelsea in February 2023. Indeed, no side has won fewer points on the road in the top flight this term than Saints (one).
They are the only side yet to score a first-half away goal in the Premier League this season – the Saints have also had the fewest shots (29) and fewest shots on target (five) in the first 45 minutes of away games of any side this campaign.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Aston Villa – 64.4%
Draw – 18.9%
Southampton – 16.8%
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